Favriou, Fabrice

Phases

Label: Creative Sources Country: Portugal

"Even if in the very first seconds of this album, you could think about someone in the act of fixing a broken intercom, this eccentric multi-instrumentist was meddling with an harmonium when he recorded this release at home-garage-studio.

Due to its quite high cost of maintenance, the resulting disappearance from churches (where it was mostly used) and the coming of more cheap electronic or electric instruments, this fascinating instrument close to accordion, but completely different from the technical viewpoint, maybe lost its notoriety, even if many musicians know its particular acoustics, its piercing timbre. Moreover harmonium's feature of keeping distinguishable different tones, even when they are played together, was particularly appreciated by tuning testers.

On "Phases", Fabrice Favriou manages to extract six very interesting pieces, mainly based on modulations and microtonal variations through changes of pumping pressure, and you could be astonished by the impressive timbral possibilities as well as by similarities with other instruments which can be emulated by harmonium, so that while listening some of his six phases, you could even think that Fabrice is playing a distorted guitar or a brass. From the stylistical viewpoint, "Phases" sounds consistent with previous collaborations or releases by Monsieur Favriou, who seems to compel listeners to a sort of sound-induced trance through proper drones, untiring perforations or long-lasting dilutions of single note."-Vito Camarretta, Chain D.L.K.